Added support for Paradise Poker histories. Because Paradise Poker does not save histories to a player’s hard drive, they must be copied from email sent by Paradise Poker. The history should end before the line of dashes on the final hand. 0.4:-Corrected calculation of M when antes are included. Previous versions assumed a full table of antes.
When budding poker players ask for advice on how to improve at poker, they are often directed to one of the many online training sites. It is a sign of us living in a digital age. While training sites can, and do, help players to increase their poker knowledge, some will argue there is no substitute for online poker strategy books when it comes to learning about this fantastic game.
Head over to Amazon and you will discover close to 500 poker strategy books available to purchase. A significant number of these probably are not worth the paper that they are written on, and will almost certainly be forgotten. But there have been some superb texts written over the years including the ones listed below, all of which can benefit players of online tournament poker.
Online Poker Strategy Books: The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky
While not specific to tournament poker, David Sklansky’s The Theory of Poker is right up there with the most important poker strategy books ever written. It contains all the basic strategic fundamentals across its 276 pages, much of which are still relevant decades after it was first published. Read this book because it gives you a solid base on which to stack further knowledge.
Online Poker Strategy Books: Super/System: A Course in Power Poker by Doyle Brunson
Considered by many to be the poker bible, Super/System was truly ground-breaking when it was published in the late 1970s. It’s original cover price was $100 at release, equivalent to more than $400 in today’s climate, yet it sold steadily for the next 30 years. And even though it appeared well before the online age (and also isn't specific to tournaments), it still provides a great deal of insight and knowledge for online tournament players.
At 600 pages, the book is on the larger side, but there is golden information on all of those pages. Super/System was the first book that showed how the most successful poker players approached the game, moving towards loose-aggressive play in hold’em games, plus it gives tips and strategies for several other popular poker variants, with some of those strategies coming from some of Brunson’s peers.
Online Poker Strategy Books: Every Hand Revealed by Gus Hansen
Gus Hansen is one of poker’s most unorthodox players, yet nobody can argue with his tournament results, which include three World Poker Tour titles. While playing in the 2007 Aussie Millions Main Event, the Great Dane made notes about every hand that he played, giving his thought process for each. Oh, he also went on to win the tournament for A$1.5 million.
Once you begin reading Hansen’s book, you’ll find it difficult to put down until you have read it cover to cover. While Hansen’s style of play is not for the fainthearted, it does give you an insight into how to play a loose-aggressive style in poker tournaments.
Online Poker Strategy Books: Harrington on Hold’em series by Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie
The 1995 World Series of Poker Main Event champion’s first Harrington on Hold’em volume is the best-selling poker book in history, and it is easy to see why. Much like Brunson’s Super/System, Harrington on Hold’em gave poker tournament players a glimpse into how to approach the different stages of a tournament, the “M” concept (which is still relevant today), tips on bluffing frequencies, and other such nuances.
Harrington on Hold’em: Volume II arrived soon after — this writer believes this is the best of the series — with Volume III completing the tournament series. Some of the information in Harrington on Hold’em may be a little outdated as it advocates a mostly tight-aggressive approach, but it lays great foundations for anyone looking to enter the world of tournament poker.
Online Poker Strategy Books: The Mental Game of Poker I & II by Jared Tendler and Barry Carter
This is another entry that isn’t focused on playing advice, but it is still possibly one of the most useful poker strategy series around.
Often, you will find that the difference between a winning poker player and a losing one is how strong the person’s mental game is. Once you have read both of Jared Tendler and Barry Carter’s books, you will be armed with the tools necessary to understand how the human psyche works, to recognize you are about to tilt, and to employ strategies and thought processes for improving your mental game. You can even apply the concepts to other areas of your life.
Online Poker Strategy Books: Excelling at No-Limit Hold’em by Jonathan Little and others
One of the more recently written books to make it onto our list is Excelling at No-Limit Hold’em by Jonathan Little and 17 others such as Mike Sexton, Jared Tendler, Phil Hellmuth, Chris Moneymaker, and former PokerNews managing editor Chad Holloway.
Some say the book is like a modern day Super/System, in this case covering several areas of no-limit hold’em, and a title worthy of shelf space for any poker player.
Online Poker Strategy Books: Moorman’s Book of Poker by Chris Moorman and Byron Jacobs
Few books captured the imagination of the poker community before they were launched more than Chris Moorman’s book. The winningest player in online poker tournament history released his book in November 2014 and is essentially Moorman reviewing various hand histories from tournaments played by co-author Byron Jacobs.
Mtt Poker Tips
Moorman has shied away from poker training sites, so this could be the only way you get to delve inside the mind of one of online poker’s legendary tournament players.
Online Poker Strategy Books: Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time by Eric Lynch, Jon Van Fleet, and Jon Turner
Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time is a three-book series that gives the reader a step-by-step guide into decision making across a wide range of different scenarios. The books are packed full of hand examples taken from the hand histories of Eric “Rizen” Lynch, Jon “Pearljammer” Turner, and Jon “Apestyles” Van Fleet, three players who have combined winnings of more than $10 million.
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online pokerbooksDavid SklanskyDoyle BrunsonGus HansenDan HarringtonJared TendlerBarry CarterJonathan LittleChris MoormanJon TurnerJon Van FleetEric LynchRelated Players
Doyle BrunsonEric LynchChris MoormanJonathan LittleJon TurnerDavid Sklansky
Our first task in MTT poker is getting solid – which really means different things of course depending on our average buy-in, as the villains toughen up and have different kinds of vulnerabilities requiring different angles of attack. For now let’s assume we’re talking predominantly about the micros and the smaller mid games, although a lot of what we’ll explore further in to this series (and some of what we’ll look at today) will apply equally well to all stakes.
Firstly, what do we mean by solid?
Well we don’t mean sick. We don’t mean capable of pulling off crazy 6bet bluffs against other crazy good regulars in EPT events. At the lower stakes, both in MTTs and cash, all you need to achieve the status of being a solid player is to have good poker fundamentals, good execution in game, to play your “A game” consistently and to understand your opponents decently well.
This is plenty enough to master at first and takes a lot of study and engagement with poker in itself, and what it adds up to is a solid ABC poker game which while it won’t win any awards for ambitious or creative play will get you solidly profitable against the fields you play. Playing flashy or fancy against terrible opponents (90%+ of those you’ll face in the micros) is usually a bad mistake in fact.
First off, get solid. Learn the language of MTT poker words and how to speak it before trying to compose your greatest works. Your first audiences of villains won’t get it anyway, it’ll go straight over their heads since they’re at ground level, and trying to level the ground itself is an absurd and humiliating experience which will only bring you down with a hard bump.
Learning How to Learn
It is true that there’s no replacement for sheer play, and putting in time on the poker grind is undoubtedly a major part of getting really solid and getting genuinely good. But if you’re playing on semi-autopilot, reiterating plays you’ve seen or read about without really thinking them through for yourself, the rate at which you learn from your own play will be seriously diminished.
I am ready to take my tournament poker game to the next level!
In order to learn at any decent rate through simply playing we must play consciously, we must consider our options in game and be able to explain to ourselves why we take a given line. We should always have a reason which can be clearly expressed as to why we take a certain action in game. It needn’t even be the “best possible” reason provided it’s something we can vocalize, criticize and reconsider later. If we don’t stay aware of this in game, our learning will crawl, as there will be no working relationship between our intuition (with which we learn intuitively all the time as we “soak up” experience) and our rational reflective thinking minds (with which we make these things conscious).
Of course on top of playing thoughtfully and consciously there is also the vital adjunct activity of studying the game away from the felt. This is something often neglected by players, as it is on the face of it less fun and less easy than simply playing. But once you get into studying poker you’ll be so glad you did so, both in terms of your bottom line profit from the game and your enjoyment and engagement with play.
Mtt Poker Strategy
My Own Take
I myself am better at teaching than I am at learning (!) given the background I have as a teacher of philosophy, critical thinking, numerical reasoning and several other subjects. I’m still working on learning efficiently in my own poker game, and certainly lean towards certain forms of learning which I enjoy more, and neglect others which are perhaps harder for me to engage with but just as much use. I tend to prioritize hand reviews with poker buddies and live hand discussions over detailed math review and time spent using Pokerstove and other useful pieces of software to self-review the mathematical detail of individual hands. Something I’m working on in my own game is scheduling different types of study to ensure I get this balance right in future.
Mtt Poker School
Next Time
In the next section I’ll go over strategies for MTT leak-busting, a discussion of how best to approach reviewing your own hand histories, and start to break down some of the key factors we must weight as we make specific decisions in an MTT.
By LuckyLuke